Black and Ivory
by courtybam
Summary: Hermione makes a speech about Sirius at a POST DH memorial service. Originally planned to be a Hermione/Sirius, but I ended up with this instead. However, it could still be considered H/S if you get imaginative with it.


Title: Black and Ivory

Ship: I started this with every intention of it being Hermione/Sirius, but that didn't happen. Still, you can imagine it's H/S if you want. (:

Word Count: 914

Rating: E for eeeeveryone.

Summary: Hermione makes a speech about Sirius post DH, at a memorial service.

I knew Sirius Black to be a fairly complex person while he was alive. Of course, now... Well, now I haven't the slightest idea how he is. While alive, he had layers; different parts of the man he had been, whether in waking life or far off memories of moments he once experienced. They varied not only from day to day, but from hour to hour, moment to moment. Still, he tended to keep some of them safely locked away in his mind, never to be used or thought of again.

I'm told that there is the joyous, carefree spirit of the child he once was; curious and innocent, unaware of the evil of the world he was born into, despite his parentage, lingering somewhere behind his guard. I never personally conversed with or witnessed this boy, this stranger that was forever lost in his mind and his past.

There was the mischievous teen, that was almost always in the company of a certain James Potter. This boy was more aware of the war and the struggles that surrounded him, though it would probably be a bit of a stretch to say that this boy was more mature than the child from his past. At times when in the company of his godson, this lost teenager appeared, unable to resist the draw of Harry, who I've been told is so like his late father.

There are others, of course, that he took on, or experienced, throughout his lifetime. However, instead of boring you with the details, I suppose we'll just skip ahead to more prominent personalities. By this, I'm referring to the ones that I witnessed and find the most important, or relevant to my rambling.

Once he escaped from Azkaban, and Harry, Ron, and I discovered him in the Shrieking Shack so long ago, the man had a bit of an air of insanity to him, despite the fact that he was holding up much better than most convicts do after twelve years in the atrocious wizard prison. He had a laugh like a bark, though I realized during future occasions while I was in his presence that this was purely just... him. His appearance was probably the most prominent thing about him, for I'm sad to say he looked more like a walking corpse than a living, breathing, man.

During the summer I spent with the Order in Headquarters, he was rather withdrawn. He spent most of his time either in his room or in meetings; only venturing out every now and then for meals, or to wander the halls of the home that was never quite a home to him while he was growing up. After a while of what I could only expect was a torturous time, locked up in that house and unable to leave like the rest of us could, he began to get a bit restless. He clung to any news of the outside world, and tensions between himself and Severus Snape became higher than I had thought possible. Of course, Snape was instigating most of the fights that ever took place, though his classmate didn't help matters much by participating in the useless bickering matches, and throwing dirty looks towards the greasy haired professor whenever he deemed an appropriate time.

In battle, he was driven. He seemed to almost enjoy the fight that broke out in the Ministry of Magic, though I suppose it was more the fact that he was out of the Black home and able to take out some of his pent up aggression on our enemies. His eyes were the most captivating cross between dark and light on that day. Ivory and black, forever intertwined. I believe that during his life, ivory and black were always there together, lingering in everything he did, a silent representation not often considered.

He was, as you all know, a Black. The Black's are a pureblood family; perhaps the purest pureblood family out there. Most of the family is very dedicated to the Dark Lord and serving him. The color black itself is very dark; the darkest color there is. Some argue that black is an achromatic, which isn't really even a color at all. Wouldn't some of us argue that most of Voldemort's supporters aren't really people, or humans, as they seem fond of giving off the impression they haven't a shred of humanity?

On the other hand, we have ivory, which is an off white. I think ivory is more appropriate than white is, for I'm comparing those that stand united against the dark side with the color. Though I'm sure we'd all like to think we're pure in comparison to our enemies, this is a lie. We all have darkness in our hearts, and he was well aware of that fact throughout his life. However, we have light too, which is the ivory of it all... and of him.

Despite everything that he experienced, he remained ivory, in comparison to the company that he was surrounded by during parts of his life. It'd be unrealistic and untrue to say that he didn't have black too. That was what made him him, and I'm not going to waste my time casting false impressions of the man. He was strong, brave, wise beyond his years, shadowed, darkened, scarred, mysterious, kind, human.

Sirius Orion Black held, and was, I believe, a captivating combination of black and ivory, that I'll remember for the rest of eternity.


End file.
